CNM Short Takes

Parents site joins MSN.ca familyMontreal-based PetitMonde.com, a resource and shopping site for families, will now be featured on MSN.CA, the portal operated by Microsoft Canada. PetitMonde counts 2 million page hits and 100,000 unique visitors each month, and is operated by Micro-Accès, also based in Montreal. CRIA to launch anti-piracy education campaign in fallDetails won’t be available for several months, but Music Business News reports that the Canadian Recording Industry Association is gearing up for a fall push against music piracy. CRIA president Brian Robertson confirms the story, but says details have yet to be finalized and that it would be premature to discuss details at this time. Archives puts 1944-71 Cabinet documents onlineThe National Archives of Canada has posted several years of Cabinet Conclusions to its web site. The pages summarize the discussions of the federal Cabinet, and document decision-making at the highest level of the Canadin government, and is searchable. The 1968-71 Conclusions are now available, and the site will be updated regularly to include all documents from 1944-67. Aboriginal awareness boosted by Bill Reid Pole siteSpecial guests from Canadian Heritage were on hand June 21 to launch the Respect to Bill Reid Pole web site on VirtualMuseum.ca. The site was built by the University of British Columbia’s Museum of Anthropology. Art2Life.ca wins Galleries prizeThe Ontario Association of Art Galleries has awarded its Samuel E. Weir Partner’s Award to Toronto-based web design shop ecentricarts Inc. The award recognizes ecentricarts’ work with the McMichael Canadian Art Collection and the York Region District School Board to produce www.Art2Life.ca, a timeline of Canadian art and history. "Art2Life was a compelling project for us - our challenge was to create a site that would make Canadian art and history interesting for kids," says ecentricarts’ Michel Blondeau. (CNM, Sept. 20/01). Atlantic Tech Centre seeks video conferencing systemsThe Atlantic Technology Centre in Charlottetown PEI has issued an expression of interest for high quality video conferencing systems. The systems are needed for both the main centre, and for three other regional IT centres. Proposals are due July 12, with installation expected by August 15. See www.techpei.com for details. Streamlined process in place for Ontario film and TV tax creditsThe Ontario Media Development Corp. (OMDC) has announced a new streamlined claims process for the Ontario Film and Television Tax Credit (OFTTC) and the Ontario Production Services Tax Credit (OPSTC). Film producers will now be issued up to 85% of the tax credit within six weeks of filing their tax return and certificate of eligibility. Producers are also now able to submit their application to the OMDC for a certificate of eligibility prior to completion of the production. Further, the OMDC will estimate the amount of the credit based on a production budget and schedule of projected labour expenditures, rather than a cost report of actual expenditures. New application packages are available on the agency’s web site at http://www.omdc.on.ca. CHIN issues call for Community Memories proposals due July 24The Canadian Heritage Information Network (CHIN) is accepting proposals for the newly created Community Memories project – part of the Virtual Museum of Canada. The program supports smaller museums in developing online local history exhibits by supplying them with user-friendly software and a standard investment of $5,000. The results will be launched as a new section of the Virtual Museum this fall. The program is open to CHIN/Virtual Museum members with no more than two full-time paid staff, which may use the software to produce up to 35 exhibits. The results can be showcased through the VMC, on CD-ROMs or slide shows presented in the museum. Exhibits will explore subjects such as a town’s main industry, an historical event, traditional crafts or a way of life, drawing from an institution’s permanent collection and documents and histories related by the local citizenry. The deadline for the first call is July 24, and subsequent calls will be issued approximately every three months. DVD Awards invites submissionsThe fifth annual DVD Entertainment Conference and Showcase is accepting submissions for its awards, winners of which will be announced during the event August 21-22. DVD publishers, film studios, production companies and mastering facilities are invited to submit titles for competition in 14 different categories. Full details can be found at http://www.dvdconference.com. Travel agents launch site The Association of Canadian Travel Agencies (ACTA) has launched its new site at http://www.acta.ca. The site, which offers information about Canada’s travel agents to both the industry and public as a whole, was built by Victoria-based Number 41 Media. Immersion Studios offers virtual visit to Monterey SanctuaryThe new Immersion Institute in Mystic CN has opened, offering several interactive ways to explore marine life across the continent in a theatre built by Toronto-based Immersion Studios. The threatre wires together several marine sanctuaries digitally using digital cameras, interactive consoles and games. The institute was formed from partnerships between Immersion, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the National Marine Sanctuaries Foundation, the JASON Foundation for Education, the SBC Foundation and several other U.S. organizations. The system runs on the Abilene Internet2 high-speed backbone. Full details are available at http://www.mysticaquarium.org. Ottawa hoping to open new film production officeThe Ottawa Business Journal reports that a four-way partnership of private sector and industry is planning to open a new film production office in Ottawa. The office is expected to be started with $50,000 in seed money from Ottawa, the same amount from the City of Gatineau, $30,000 from the National Capital Commission (NCC) and $50,000 from local film production companies. Only the NCC money has been confirmed. The office will reportedly be a three-year pilot, and officials hope to launch it this fall. A recent study by the city demonstrated that the film industry in the capital was worth $38.7 million in 2000, and could be worth $60 million in the next five years. Controversial Canadian Amazon.ca store openedBehemoth online retailer Amazon.com has opened a Canadian version of its virtual bookstore, offering residents of this country pricing in Canadian dollars and shipping from Canada Post. The store will also offer content such as customer reviews and original editorial reviews in both English and French, as well as bibliographic information from the National Library of Canada. While eagerly anticipated by Canadian publishers anxious for alternative sales channels, the virtual store has run afoul of critics who charge Amazon has performed an end-run around foreign ownership restrictions on Canadian booksellers. The site will ship from a Canadian fulfilment centre. Canadian Heritage officials are conducting an inquiry into the matter. TVO to re-build control rooms using Leitch gearTVOntario, the province’s public educational broadcaster, will re-build two master control rooms using audio and video distribution amplifiers, interface and conversion equipment, distributed routing systems and time reference products from Leitch Technology. The digital gear will replace outdated equipment in TVOntario’s 15-to-20-year-old analog facilities. Marchi trumps cultural instrument in Banff speechCanada needs a rules-based international system for cultural industries, and that’s why the county is championing the New International Instrument for Cultural Diversity (NIICD), Sergio Marchi, Canada’s ambassador to the World Trade Organization and chair of the WTO general council, told delegates at the Banff Film Festival on June 10. "And until the New Instrument is fully developed, Canada will continue its strategy of not making any commitments that restrict our ability to achieve our cultural objectives," he said.The NIICD, however, is no longer that new and has failed to get much recognition on the trade front. Delegates warned in February at the annual convention of the Canadian Film and Television Production Association that the NIICD concept had not spilled over from the cultural sphere to the trade arena. For more details, see CNM affiliate publication Canadian Communications Reports, Feb. 15/02 and June 21/01.

CNM Short Takes

Broadcast | June 26, 2002

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